‘Young Mothers’ plays with the texture of social realism, often resembling a documentary in its close, unsparing focus. The film follows a group of teenage girls – some pregnant, others already with babies – who come from fractured families and backgrounds marked by addiction, abuse, or neglect. None of them are fully ready for the responsibilities of motherhood, and the film shows them torn between feeding and clothing their children, holding on to partners who are often absent more than they are present, and simply trying to get by.

Through its episodic structure, we glimpse backstories that deepen the portrait. One pregnant girl, given up for adoption as a baby, tracks down her own mother, not to rebuild a relationship but simply to ask, “Why didn’t you want me?” In another storyline, a teenage mother considers giving her child up for adoption, only for her own mother to insist on keeping the baby. Yet that grandmother is trapped in an abusive relationship herself, volatile and combustible around her daughter. The question becomes whether the child would be safer in foster care.

Despite its unflinching realism, the film is not without compassion or hope. In the manner of Ken Loach, it confronts hardship directly but allows for moments of tenderness. Scenes of babies being fed, nappies changed, or desperate phone calls to partners who don’t answer capture the monotony and small struggles of daily life. The girls are different in personality, but their situations share the same bleak contours: precarious housing, unstable relationships, and futures already shadowed by disadvantage. Some moments are painfully stark, such as when a young mother forgets to collect her own baby, yet these are balanced by gestures of resilience.

One of the most affecting sequences features Ariane (Janaina Halloy), a 15-year-old preparing to give her baby up for adoption. She writes a letter for her daughter Lili to read when she turns 18, explaining her decision and expressing love she cannot act upon. It is both devastating and quietly dignified.

The film’s final scene, around a piano, strikes a note of tentative optimism – fleeting, liminal, and fragile, yet deeply moving. ‘Young Mothers’ acknowledges the harsh realities of teenage parenthood, showing young women on the periphery of society who may not succeed, perhaps may not even survive. But it also recognizes their humanity, their capacity for love, and the small, vital sparks of hope that can exist even in the most desperate circumstances.